Two Brothers Reunited By A Powerful Bond Love
by rockgoddess42
Summary: Danny survives the return attack on Japan. Rafe and Danny become brothers again.
1. Chapter 1

Two Brothers Reunited By A Powerful Bond - Love

Chapter 1

Rafe sat by Danny's bedside gripping his hand tightly never once taking his eyes off his best friend. He nearly cried again when he looked at Danny thinking where had it all gone wrong. He was supposed to be protecting Danny not the other way around. He also thought about Evelyn and how she would be waiting for Danny's arrival. Tentatively Rafe reached a hand out and brushed a strand of hair from Danny's eyes and looking down on him with loving warm eyes thinking, 'Oh Danny little brother what would I ever do without you kiddo?' Almost as though Danny knew Rafe was thinking about him Rafe watched Danny's eyes move slightly and squeezed his hand and said softly, "Danny?"

Rafe watched carefully as his brother's eyes began to flutter and Rafe smiled encouragingly and said, "That's it Danny boy come back to me little brother. Come on open your eyes Danny I'm here." Rafe kept his eyes focused on Danny as he struggled to open them finally his eyes fully opened glancing up at the loving yet very concerned eyes of his brother Rafe. Danny opened his mouth and tried to speak and Rafe shushed him softly and brushed a hand across Danny's forehead and said, "No, no take it easy Danny don't try to talk yet, you thirsty kiddo?" Danny nodded weakly and Rafe gently eased him up and brought a glass of water to his lips and laughed lightly but spoke soothingly, "Danny woah easy kiddo easy slow sips you'll make yourself sick, one sip at a time, that's it." Mean while Rafe was gently rubbing soothing circles on his little brother's back watching him carefully. When Danny had enough to drink and held up a hand Rafe nodded understanding and put the cup back down and gently reached out and eased Danny back down.

As Danny glanced around Rafe never let his eyes drift from Danny's. He sat on his bedside stroking his hair comfortingly and talking soothingly to him. Danny smiled weakly and Rafe returned it but as soon as the smile on Danny's face appeared it was gone. Rafe frowned and said concerned, "Hey Danny little brother what's the matter?" Danny murmured, "I'm sorry Rafe I'm really sorry I never meant for any of this.." Rafe interrupted him gripping his hand in his own again and with loving eyes said, "No Danny you didn't do anything wrong I was the one that misunderstood I'm the one who should be apologizing. I hurt you and I attacked you my own brother you didn't deserve that I just blew what I saw out of proportion I'm sorry little brother." Danny smiled weakly and said, "You have nothing to be sorry for Rafe." He returned the smile and said weakly, "Oh kiddo how can you ever forgive me like that? What did I do to deserve a kid like you?" Danny smiled and then he said, "I love you Rafe." The smile was returned with a warm one and he brushed a strand of hair from Danny's eyes again and said, "I love you too kiddo so much, now I know you hate hospitals but what do you say you get some more rest so we can get you out of here huh?" Danny nodded and murmured, "You'll stay?" Rafe nodded gently and said, "Of course I will I'll be right here when you wake up." Rafe watched as his eyes began to slowly close again.

Rafe's thoughts then began to drift from where they were now and what they were doing now to their childhood everything they had done together in their life and how it led up to this moment. His thoughts worriedly drifted to how Danny ended up here.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Rafe and Danny were flying with very little fuel left in their engines and knew they had to land somewhere. They searched desperately for land to appear so they could bring their planes down softly. Just when they believed they had lucked out Danny heard Rafe cry out to them, "I see the coast!" Danny smiled and said, "Copy that Rafe, we're gonna make it." Rafe replied, "Danny follow me now we can make this I can see the coast right now it's just a few miles out follow me." Danny replied, "We're followin you Rafe we gotta find a soft landin spot." Rafe eased it down and said, "We can make it in easy pull it back we'll glide it in we're going on fuse." It was then that he noticed the Japanese flags and yelled to Danny to land somewhere else and not to come down but Danny flew over it with a heavy heart. _

_Danny was not about to abandon Rafe. As they came to a landing Japanese began appearing everywhere as a moment later Rafe saw Danny's plane fly overhead and gaped with worry in his heart and in his eyes. As soon as he saw the plane hit the ground with a hard crash all he could think was, 'Oh my god Danny no!' He ran forward ignoring the cries from the others and screamed with worry, "Danny!" Along his path to find Danny he found Anthony and briefly stopped to check if he was alive and moved on to find his brother. He then heard someone choking painfully and knew it was Danny. He ran over and cautiously crouched in front of Danny instantly checking him over for injuries. Rafe glanced down at him with worry noting that he was in so much pain he could barely open his eyes to look at him. Softly soothingly he said, "Danny." He watched and immediately noticed Danny trying to move and how painful it was for him and laid a hand gently on his shoulder and admonished gently, "Hey easy easy Danny boy take it easy don't try to move too much." It was then that a shiny metal object caught Rafe's eye and noticed it was sticking out from Danny's neck and he winced sympathetically and looked at Danny as he cried out painfully, "I- I got some-somethin in mmmy nnnecck." Rafe nodded and said, "I know Danny let me try and get that for you just relax and breathe for me okay?" Rafe gently began to ease it from Danny's neck meanwhile soothingly telling Danny to relax and breathe as he pulled it out. _

_It had just come out when Danny's eyes widened in horror and before Rafe could turn the Japanese attacked him from behind. It was then that all chaos had broken out. Danny cried out, "Rafe!" He then opened his eyes and saw them strapping Danny his baby brother to the wood and the only thing that caught his eye was the look on Danny's face. They were filled with pleading and horror that this was the end. Rafe thought. 'No way was anyone taking Danny from me now.' He picked up a gun and began shooting the Japanese holding Danny until he tried again and nothing came out. It was then he realized it was out of bullets and glanced in horrified shock as everything occurred at once before he realized what was happening Danny threw himself in front of Rafe to protect him and was shot at from all directions. Then a grenade went off and there was silence. Then Rafe watched with shock and concern as Danny collapsed. He murmured, "Danny?" Then he cried louder, "Danny!" He quickly released himself and ran and crouched in front of Danny. Rafe tried not to look at the bullet wounds and cried softly, "Danny." He watched as Danny tried to move again and he said, "Easy easy it's alright hold on now I gotcha you're alright hold on just one second let me get this off of ya." Danny cried out, "Rafe I'm not- I'm not gonna make it." _

_ Continuation_

_Rafe would not hear of this from his brother but glanced down at his wounds and winced with sympathy for Danny and said, Oh yes you are yes you are now Danny look at me." Danny was shaking violently at this point and trembled, Rafe I'm ssssooo cccoollldd I-I'm ssooo ccooolldd." Rafe was on the verge of tears as he pulled Danny into his arms and wrapped a hand around the back of his head gently was unable to do anything to help him and tried to speak but found no words so he took his eyes off the wounds and focused on Danny and looked at his face and said soothingly, "You're alright Danny hey." As he felt every shake of Danny's body as he trembled in his arms it made him cry, as he knew he was close to losing him. Rafe then pulled him closer and held him tightly sharing any warmth he possibly could and cried as he placed his chin on top of the boy's head as the boy cried from the pain against Rafe's chest. _

_Rafe glanced down at him and watched as he struggled to fight against the pain and listened as he said, "Hey Rafe can you do me a favor?" Rafe would do anything for Danny at this point and said in a very soft gentle tone, "What?" Danny tried to joke weakly, "Can you have someone else write my name on the tombstone?" Rafe would laugh but cried at this and would not hear it and exclaimed releasing him for a moment, "You're not gonna die look at me listen to me you ain't gonna die do you hear me? Danny you can't leave me now Danny please stay with me please just hang on just a bit longer." Danny kept his eyes on him and Rafe said soothingly, "That's it good boy Danny just hang on for me keep your eyes open Danny. I've got you we'll get you out of here I promise." Finally help arrived as they loaded Danny up and got them to a nearby hospital._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rafe sat on Danny's bedside refusing to leave him. He sat there stroking Danny's hair comfortingly and watching him sleep peacefully and smiled. He had contacted Evelyn already and was on her way. Within a short time she arrived but could not help but see what she had come between. She could not take her eyes off Rafe taking care of his younger brother. She could sense even though they weren't related Rafe treated Danny like his younger brother and she could see how much he doted on Danny.

She came over and said softly, "Rafe." He looked up and smiled and said, "Hey Ev." Then he glanced back down at Danny. It appeared that with the noise made Danny began to stir. Rafe whispered soothing words to Danny. He slowly began to open his eyes and laid them on Evelyn and he smiled. He murmured, "Evelyn." She came forward and kissed him softly.

Then he glanced at Rafe and murmured weakly, "Rafe?" He immediately gripped Danny's hand and crooned, "Sssshhh I'm right here Danny I'm right here." She saw the weak smile and how Rafe appeared to relax Danny when she saw all the tension released when he looked at Rafe. Evelyn watched with surprise as Rafe gently continued stroking Danny's hair comfortingly and it seemed Danny did not mind the gentle comforting movement.

Rafe said, "You thirsty buddy?" Danny nodded weakly and Rafe lifted the cup to his lips again and gently eased him up into a comfortable sitting position. Rafe adjusted the pillows to make him comfortable and laid him back down holding the cup to his lips until he had enough and put it down on the table. He rubbed Danny's hand focusing his eyes on him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A few days had passed as Danny was forced to remain in the hospital. Rafe would stay as long as he could through those few days watching him fall asleep and then taking a break to return home shower and get some work done and come back. Finally Danny was released into Rafe's care as well as Evelyn's. This did not relieve Rafe of his duty as the big brother though. If nothing else Rafe was more on top of Danny and making sure he was taking care of himself than he had before. He grew closer to Danny again and was always watching him to be sure he was okay.

Rafe walked into the hospital and saw Danny and laughed and said, "You just can't wait to bust out of here can you brother?" Danny exclaimed, "I need out of here now Rafe I don't want to stay here anymore I'm sick of hospital food and being bored I need out." Rafe laughed and squeezed his shoulder with affection and said, "Okay let's get you out of here buddy." Rafe went and checked Danny out of the hospital and as Danny had not fully recovered Rafe wrapped a steadying arm around Danny and said, "Easy Danny I gotcha" and helped him to the car. Rafe gently eased Danny into the passenger seat and said, "Just lay back and relax we're going home now." He tentatively again brushed a strand of hair from Danny's eyes and saw him smile and returned it. He then got behind the wheel while also keeping one eye on Danny.

As soon as they arrived at home it was then that Rafe saw Danny had fallen into a peaceful sleep and hated to wake him. He came over to the passenger side and opened the door and crouched in front of Danny and shook his shoulder softly and said, "Danny hey Danny buddy time to wake up we're here." Danny nodded and slowly moved with Rafe's help out of the car. Rafe helped him into the house and guided him into one of the bedrooms and said, "You need to rest but first the doctor gave me pain medication for you no arguments kiddo." Danny sighed and rolled his eyes and agreed as Rafe chuckled and pulled out the bottle and dumped a couple of the pills into his hand and filled a cold glass of water and gently helped ease Danny to sit him up and handed him the pills and the glass. Rafe watched him swallow the pills and drink the water and handed it back to Rafe. Then Rafe said, "Okay get some rest now I'll wake you up in a bit. Try and sleep okay?" Gently he nudged him down onto the pillows taking one hand and smoothing Danny's hair back and heard Danny say quietly, "Can you stay until I fall asleep?" Rafe smiled warmly and nodded and squeezed his arm and said, "Of course Danny." He watched as Danny's eyes began to flutter closed and then heard him breathing steadily and then quietly left the room.

It was a couple of hours later that Rafe suddenly heard something that sounded like a scream erupting from Danny's room. That had him running to Danny's room and seeing his younger brother up in bed thrashing. Danny was having a bad nightmare from the looks of it. Gently he said, "Hey hey Danny wake up buddy come on open your eyes little brother you're okay." Danny groaned and murmured weakly, "Rafe?" He nodded and reached out and tilted Danny's chin slightly towards him and said, "Yeah buddy you okay now?" Danny nodded weakly and Rafe said gently, "You wanna talk about it?" Rafe could see his lip quivering and wrapped an arm around him as Danny said, "I- I thought I lost you Rafe." He stroked Danny's hair soothingly and rubbed his back and whispered, "Sssshhhh it's okay calm down Danny I'm right here I'm not going anywhere." Soon Danny fell asleep again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Later that day Evelyn dropped by and saw Rafe sitting by Danny's bed watching him intently. Evelyn quietly came up behind Rafe and pulled up a chair beside him. He gave her a half smile but focused on Danny. She could sense how worried Rafe was by the concerned look in his eyes as he continued brushing Danny's hair back as a sign to Danny that he was there and would not leave him. Rafe addressed Evelyn without full eye contact saying softly so not to wake Danny, "He had a really bad nightmare earlier he woke up screaming and thrashing scared the heck out of me."

Evelyn tried to find a way to reassure him as he continued to speak. "Danny finally woke up from the nightmare he looked at me and said he thought he had lost me when I asked him if he wanted to talk about it and he broke down and cried. It took me a while to get him to calm down and sleep again." Suddenly Rafe felt pressure in his hand and looked down and asked softly, "Danny?" He saw Danny smile and that warmed his heart as he returned it. Danny said, "Hey Rafe." He looked at Danny concerned and said, "Hey yourself buddy how are you feeling?" Danny nodded and said, "Much better than when I was in the hospital at least." Rafe chuckled and nodded and asked, "You feel up to gettin' out for a bit with us maybe get a bite to eat?" Danny nodded enthusiastically and Rafe laughed and patted his back and said, "Okay we go easy though something feels wrong we come back here got it?" Danny groaned in annoyance rolled his eyes and nodded. Rafe laughed and ruffled his hair playfully and said, "Okay let's go buddy."

The three of them sat down at the restaurant and Evelyn observed how Rafe was cautiously watching Danny to make sure he was eating. Rafe noticed Danny was sort of picking away at the food and circling it rather than eating. He looked at Danny annoyed for a moment and said, "Danny why aren't you eating?" Danny looked at Rafe and said, "Yeah I am." He picked up a piece and started nibbling so Rafe would believe him. Rafe cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at him and commented "Faking it so I would believe you isn't going to fly with me brother you're not eating." Then Evelyn noticed a sudden change of heart in Rafe as he changed from a sharp tone to a softer expression with concern and love and said gently, "Are you feeling alright?" He reached a hand out to his forehead and with a frown asked, "You're not gettin' sick on me are ya?" Danny shook his head and said, "Nah I'm not just not as hungry as I thought I guess I don't know." Rafe looked at him for a moment then slid his dish over to Danny and said, "Try some of these at least they're good." Danny nodded gratefully and began to eat part of Rafe's food but still was not all that hungry.

Later they headed out for a walk and Rafe stayed next to Danny in case he needed support or anything. Rafe was watching Danny but he had a warm smile on his face relieved knowing he had Danny back. He suddenly couldn't resist the urge and reached over and tussled Danny's hair playfully. Rafe sighed and said, "Danny we should get you back so you can rest buddy." Danny groaned but reluctantly agreed and they headed back. They came back to the house and Rafe walked into the room with him as Danny lay down on the bed Rafe gripped his hand and said, "I'll be right here Danny don't worry."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rafe sat vigil by Danny's bedside holding his hand soothingly rubbing circles into it with his fingers watching Danny sleep peacefully once again. His thoughts again began to drift to memories of Danny with him growing up. Then in the middle of thinking about Danny his thoughts suddenly returned to Danny lying in the bed when he heard a sudden whimper either from pain or from a nightmare again Rafe couldn't tell. He affectionately stroked Danny's hair to calm him and noticed it appeared to be more of a nightmare and he whispered comfortingly, "Ssssshhh Danny you're okay now it's okay." Danny slowly fell back into a deep sleep and Rafe let out a sigh of concern and exhaustion not knowing what more to do for Danny.

Rafe sat lost in thought when it suddenly occurred to him that maybe he and Danny could take some time return to their roots and go back home to Tennessee at least for a while. He considered proposing the idea to Danny when he was awake and alert enough to hear him out. After the argument Rafe winced as he thought back to how he had hurt Danny with his words and how he had actually physically hurt Danny, which he had never done. Then his thoughts again drifted to Danny lying injured badly by the side of the damaged plane with parts of it everywhere and fire and smoke all around from the crash. How Danny's face expressed how much pain his brother was in and that had truly broken his heart. Rafe had been angry with Danny but now with all this with what Danny had done sacrificing his own life in return for the times Rafe had protected him growing up. Danny had committed the ultimate sacrifice in his own way apologizing to Rafe for the misunderstanding and willing to do anything to win his brotherly relationship with Rafe back. He sat there lost in thought thinking, 'Danny I love you, what ever made you think you had to go this far to win me back? I forgave you for crying out loud Danny how could you do this? I nearly lost my baby brother because you just had to be a hero.'

After a while Rafe's thoughts began to settle as he heard Danny began to stir he smiled and whispered, "Hey buddy." Danny looked up at him with that same almost childish smile that warmed his heart. He tousled Danny's hair lovingly and said, "How are you feeling kiddo?" Danny nodded and said, "I'm okay better now." Rafe nodded and said gently, "Good." He did not know how to begin so he looked at Danny and sighed as he saw Danny look at him curiously knowing he wanted to speak. Rafe said, "Hey Danny I've been thinking, I feel we could really use a break I was hoping maybe you and me we could return home to Tennessee just for a while at least to pick up on our life together again and make things right. I need you baby brother, Danny what do you say?" He watched as a dozen emotions came across his face and then he saw him start to smile and he nodded and commented emotionally, "Yeah I'd love that, I love you Rafe." Danny had that same look in his eyes as he looked at Rafe one with love, compassion, understanding, and the look of following in Rafe's footsteps looking up to Rafe as a hero to Danny. This brought a smile to Rafe's face and he glanced down affectionately at Danny and found no need for words.

_Rafe discovered that for the first time in a while there was no need for words to come to them to define the bond that up to this day could not be broken. He could see that they were getting back on track again and felt this return home would be the start of a new adventure for them both._


End file.
